"River Bank" is a song recorded by American
country music artist
Brad Paisley. It is the lead single from his tenth studio album, ''
Moonshine in the Trunk''. He co-wrote the song with
Kelley Lovelace and co-produced it with Luke Wooten. A remix of the song featuring country rapper
Colt Ford was released in July 2014.
Background
The song is about a man and woman who have fun on a river in the summertime. Paisley told ''
The Tennessean'' that the song idea come from his own upbringing near the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
: "My best memories with my grandfather are on that body of water, and my dad, and learning to ski. It's kind of like a back-to-basics song, which is really an inner tube and a boat and you've got a theme park."
Paisley debuted the song at the 2014
Academy of Country Music telecast on April 6.
He also performed the song during the third episode of
ABC's ''
Rising Star''.
Critical reception
Deborah Evans Price of Billboard called ''River Bank'' "a slice of summer time fun" and added that "the production is edgy with a cool vibe". Giving it 2.5 stars out of 4, Michelangelo Matos of the ''
New York Post'' said that "It's appealingly jaunty, but Paisley has done this better." ''
Rolling Stone'' rated it 3 out of 5 stars: "This laid-back ode to inner tubes and bikinis, from an album due later this year, comes with a bendy
Stones
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...
-steeped riff and a clever chorus that's like ad copy for low-budget fun.…If there must be
bro-country, let it be this genial." Mikael Wood of ''
The Los Angeles Times'' was less favorable, saying that "the tune is either a razor-sharp send-up of bro-country cliché — or a pathetic embodiment of the same from a songwriter capable of far, far more."
Music video
The music video was directed by Scott Scovill and premiered in May 2014. It stars
Twiggy the Water-Skiing Squirrel Twiggy the Water-Skiing Squirrel is an animal novelty act, featuring a squirrel who skis around a heated pool. The act began in 1979 by Chuck and Lou Ann Best and started with an appearance on ''Real People''. It has been featured on numerous televi ...
. In 2018, Twiggy was retired after nearly 40 years.
Chart performance
The song debuted on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart at No. 36 and Country Airplay chart at No. 29.
It debuted on Bubbling Under Hot 100 at No. 14, and entered the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 at No. 88 four weeks later (chart date May 24, 2014). It peaked at No. 59 on the Hot 100, No. 12 on Hot Country Songs, and No. 2 on Country Airplay. As of September 2014, the song has sold 473,000 copies in the United States.
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Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Brad Paisley singles
2014 songs
2014 singles
Brad Paisley songs
Songs written by Brad Paisley
Songs written by Kelley Lovelace
Arista Nashville singles